Board & Staff

Board of Directors

Board Chair
	Diarra K. Lamar, MD PwC

Board Members
	Douglas Apple 1811 Consultants
	Elena Bonifacio Google
	Brett Caroselli IBM
	Christina Prusak Chianese Sidley
	Guy Dorsainvil II Citigroup Inc.
	Meredith Hunt Stonepeak
	Allen Kraus IMPLEXpartners
	Elena Lin AIG
	Maryam Najam Kleinberg Kaplan Wolff & Cohen
	Mili Reddy Sumitovant Biopharma
	Lynn Parkerson Founding Artistic Director
	Annabelle Zhuño representing Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso (ex-officio)

Ex-officio:
Council Member Lincoln Restler

Staff

Lynn Parkerson

Founding Artistic Director

Bio

Lynn Parkerson, Founding Artistic Director, began her career as a choreographer while living in Germany. German critic Joachim Ernst-Berendt wrote of Ms. Parkerson, “She makes music with her body like a musician on his instrument, and when she moves we feel it, that’s the way free music should be danced.” Jack Anderson of The New York Times wrote, “Ms. Parkerson successfully made her dancers seem witness to a miracle...one knew she was talking to God and the world.” Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times has called her solo dance, “an innately spiritual embodiment of grace.”

In recognition of her exceptional leadership contributions to Brooklyn’s cultural community, Ms. Parkerson received the Betty Smith Arts Award as part of the Women's “Herstory” Induction Ceremony and Reception on March 22, 2007. Each year, the awards, named after some of the most outstanding women in Brooklyn "herstory," are given to six outstanding Brooklyn women. In November '06 she received the Paul Robeson Award for Artistic Excellence and Community Service.

Lynn Parkerson’s choreography has been presented at many prominent international events and venues, including the Munich Theater Festival, Frankfurt’s Theatre am Turm, the Florence International Festival of Dance, Moers New Jazz Festival, Jazz Festival Baden-Baden and An Appalachian Summer Arts Festival in Boone, NC, among others. In New York City, she presented annual dance programs—notably the popular ballet series To the Pointe—as Director of Dance at Holy Trinity from 1991-2001. Her work has been supported by grants from the Harkness Foundation for Dance, Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and Con Edison. She also served as the Assistant Director of the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center from 1996-1999. Ms. Parkerson has taught dance to children and adults in New York and abroad.

Jelani Buckner

Managing Director

Bio

Managing Director

Alison Mixon

Associate Director

Bio

Alison Mixon’s passion for dance began as a scholarship student at the School of Cleveland San Jose Ballet, School of American Ballet, Chautauqua Institution, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet School, and The Juilliard School, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Alison has performed for dance, opera, and musical theater companies nationwide. Her performance credits include: The Merry Widow (The Metropolitan Opera, The Lyric Opera, and Los Angeles Opera), Die Fledermaus (The Metropolitan Opera), Florencia In The Amazon (Washington National Opera & Houston Grand Opera), Candide (Washington National Opera), The Pearl Fishers (Houston Grand Opera), The Prince of Egypt (Theatre Works of Silicon Valley), Josephine (Asolo Rep), Superfly: The Musical (Dodgers Theatrical), The Wiz (Baltimore Centerstage), Carmen and Aida (Opera Carolina), A Funny Thing Happened… (Music Circus and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival), and Can Can (Pasadena Playhouse). Alison’s film/TV credits include: Dance Flick (Paramount Pictures), Smash (NBC), and The Moment (NBC). She has also been featured in ad campaigns for Amazon, eBay, Hermès, New Balance, JustWorks, CityRow Go, Top View NYC, Welspun, YMX for Yellowman, and SheBeest. In addition to performing, Alison enjoys teaching dance to students of all ages. She is a Certified Teacher for American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum, Pre-Primary to Level 3. Her teaching credits include: The Ailey School, The Ailey Extension, The Joffrey Ballet School's Jazz & Contemporary Program, Broadway Dance Center, The School at Mark Morris Dance Center, Brooklyn Ballet, Dancewave, and several studios and private clients in the tri-state area. Alison is a proud member of Actors Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, and American Guild of Variety Artists. www. alisonmixon.com

Nellie Rainwater

Development Associate

Bio

Nellie Rainwater, Development Associate, is a dancer/choreographer and arts administrator originally from Rhode Island. She received an M.F.A. in Dance from Tisch School of the Arts/NYU, and a B.A. in Dance and English from Saint Olaf College. Her choreography has been presented at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Dixon Place, CPR - Center for Performance Research, and DANCE NOW at Joe’s Pub, among other venues. She currently performs with Naomi Goldberg Haas / Dances for a Variable Population and teaches dance and yoga classes in addition to working with Brooklyn Ballet.

Taylor Graham

Assistant Director

Bio

Originally from New York, Taylor is a queer identifying dancer, choreographer and director. She is Assistant Director at Brooklyn Ballet.

Taylor has trained under the direction of international company artists of Nederlands Dans Theater, Batsheva, William Forsythe, Deborah Hay, Alonzo King Lines, Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot, and Kate Wallich/The YC. She has performed solo work in NYC and in Europe, as well as with LA based dance company TL Collective.

Recent achievements include her film “Here & Gone” being chosen for the Berlin Independent Film Festival, winning Best Screen Dance for the Hollywood Shorts Festival, and opening for the Martha Graham season at The Joyce Theatre (NYC). Her latest film ‘Wet Skin’ premiered in May 2022.

‘Here & Gone’ has been chosen by Kyle Abraham of A.I.M. for 92Y Future Dance Festival 2021, and was featured in APAP 2022. Taylor was the Dance Artist in Residence at Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre, Firkin Crane, and Shawbrook in Ireland for 2020. She continues to make video work, create, and perform in NYC.

Tristan Grannum

Director of Community Outreach/Engagement

Bio

Tristan Grannum is originally from Brooklyn, New York. He began training in classical ballet at the age of 14 at Fiorello H. Laguardia High School for Performing Arts and Manhattan Youth Ballet. Over the years he has trained year-round at the School of Pennsylvania Ballet, and Dance Theater of Harlem where he was selected to dance in several outreach performances.

He has also attended many notable ballet summer programs on full scholarship which include the Harid Conservatory, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, and Charlotte Ballet. In June 2017 he was invited to and participated in an international dance competition (Royal Dance Grand Prix) held in Beijing, China, under the direction of Nadege Hottier (Premiere Division). There he won first place in the Contemporary ballet category.

His professional performance credits include dancing with Brooklyn Ballet, Ballet Austin, Dayton Ballet, and the Black Iris Project. He has performed works by George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Septime Webre, Stephen Mills, Marianna Oliviera, and Tan Dao. Tristan has taught at several ballet/dance institutions across the country. He is a certified dance teacher through the Mark Morris Teacher Artist Training Program and the American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum (Primary-Level 3) . He is on faculty at Brooklyn Ballet and Mark Morris Dance Group. In 2021, Tristan was chosen as an emerging dance leader for the Dance/USA DILT program under Peter Boal’s mentorship (PNB). He also was chosen as a School of American Ballet National Visiting Fellow for the 2021-2022 Cohort. Formerly, Tristan was the Associate Artistic Director for the Brooklyn Center for the Arts, an arts organization which specializes in providing access to classical art forms for underprivileged individuals across New York City. There Tristan established over 15 dance programs throughout the Department of Education. Currently Tristan Grannum is Director Of Community Engagement and Rehearsal Director for Brooklyn Ballet.

Mariela Olivan

Brooklyn Ballet School Receptionist and Rentals Coordinator

Bio

Mariela Olivan is the Brooklyn Ballet School Receptionist and Rentals Coordinator. She is a first generation Mexican-American born and raised in Queens, New York. Mariela graduated from the High School of Arts and Business and from The Center For Arts Education, “Career Development Program” in 2022, which came from Mariela’s passion for the arts as a visual artist. Currently, Mariela is a Radiologic Science student at the New York City College of Technology, and a freelance visual artist, in addition to working with Brooklyn Ballet.